Funding will accelerate expansion of platform functionality, expand go-to-market and insurance capacity for modern MGA
NEW YORK, Aug. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Converge Insurance, pioneers in advanced cyber risk management and underwriting, today announced $15 million in Series A funding from Forgepoint Capital. Forgepoint Managing Directors Don Dixon and Andrew McClure have joined the company’s Board of Directors as part of the financing.
In 2021, 61% of small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) were the target of a cyberattack. Meanwhile, 60% of SMBs go out of business within 6 months after an attack occurs. Unfortunately, the vast majority of SMBs lack cyber insurance and adequate cyber protection due to cost, inaccessibility and limited IT resources. Converge is a modern managing general agent (MGA) that fuses cyber insurance, security, and technology to address this critical need. By deploying a proprietary data ecosystem underpinned by expert underwriting, Converge provides precise cyber risk solutions that deliver improved outcomes for its customers, starting with SMBs.
Tom Kang has been appointed as CEO of Converge Insurance as part of the financing round, which closed last week. “Our mission is to empower policyholders with radically transparent cyber insurance so they can manage technology risks more intelligently,” said Kang. “We’re thrilled to partner with the team at Forgepoint Capital, who uniquely understand the needs and opportunities of this burgeoning market. This funding will enable us to expand our outreach and grow our bench of in-house experts while accelerating the availability of the Converge platform worldwide.”
Last week, leading global insurer QBE North America announced the launch of a cyber insurance program with Converge acting as program administrator, the first of many partnerships as the company scales.
“Converge is the latest company in our investment strategy to reinvent cyber insurance and risk management,” said Dixon. “We couldn’t be prouder of the seasoned team assembled at Converge and the progress they have achieved in such a short amount of time with their unique cyber underwriting model.” Forgepoint has backed other leading brands in the cyber insurance market, including risk analytics leader CyberCube Analytics, incident response firm Surefire Cyber, and managed security service provider SolCyber. Converge is the third company incubated at Forgepoint to focus on the cyber insurance market.
Kang, a licensed attorney who was elevated to CEO from his prior role as Chief Insurance Officer at Converge, is an expert in the cyber insurance industry. He has held several senior leadership roles specializing in high exposure cyber product strategies and solutions, consulting, business intelligence and data for global organizations. Prior to Converge, Kang was Head of Cyber, Tech and Media at Allianz Global, Global Cyber Product Leader at Willis Towers Watson, Enterprise Lead for Cyber Liability at The Hartford, and Assistant Vice President, Director of Claims and Services at ACE Group.
“Converge combines a proprietary data ecosystem, expert underwriting from a world-class team and a powerful platform with a results-driven approach designed to mitigate risk,” said McClure. “What they have been building is truly world-class and will change the game for an industry in dire need of modernization. I am excited to work with Tom Kang to lead the company forward together with this team and for the platform to make its global debut.”
Joining Kang on the Converge team are several other seasoned leaders who bring extensive experience spanning cyber insurance, underwriting and software development to continue to accelerate the organization’s growth plans. The company has also added multi-time CEO and experienced company builder Tom Kelly to the Board of Directors. Global Holdings CEO Steve Petrevski is also on the company’s Board of Directors. Converge co-founder and former Forgepoint Entrepreneur-In-Residence Anthony Dagostino will remain an advisor to the company during the transition.
About Converge
Converge is a modern managing general agent (MGA) that fuses cyber insurance, security and technology to provide businesses with clear and confident cyber protection. By deploying a proprietary data ecosystem underpinned by expert underwriting, Converge provides risk solutions that deliver high-value strategies with improved outcomes. Converge’s philosophy is that insurance needs the right elements and personalized approach to mitigate risk. By partnering with its policyholders, Converge precisely formulates their business needs so they can confidently become cyber secure. Converge is headquartered in New York and operates across the U.S. Learn more at convergeins.com.
About Forgepoint Capital
Forgepoint Capital is a leading cybersecurity venture capital firm that invests in transformative companies protecting the digital future. Forgepoint is the most active sector-focused firm in cybersecurity and infrastructure software, with $1B+ AUM, the largest dedicated investment team, and portfolio of nearly 40 companies. The firm brings over 100 years of proven company-building experience and its Advisory Council of more than 80 industry leaders to support entrepreneurs advancing innovation globally. Founded in 2015, Forgepoint is proud to partner with category-defining companies such as 1Kosmos, Area 1 Security (Cloudflare), Attivo Networks (SentinelOne), BehavioSec (RELX), Bishop Fox, Converge, CyberCube, Huntress, IDX (ZFOX), Noname Security, NowSecure, ReversingLabs, SPHERE, Uptycs and more as they reach their market potential. Learn more at https://forgepointcap.com.
SOURCE Converge
